Yeasayer | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/yeasayer
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:08:41 GMT2015-03-03T23:08:41Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Sinkane review – a heavy dose of razor-sharp funkhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/02/sinkane-review-oslo-london-razor-sharp-funk
<strong>Oslo, London</strong><br />Vocal fumblings and kit glitches fade into the background as Ahmed Gallab’s genre-bending musical mastery takes centre stage<p>For <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/28/sinkane-mean-love-review">Sinkane</a> frontman Ahmed Gallab, shape-shifting as an indie music jack-of-all-trades comes naturally. His 2012 album, Mars, first put <a href="http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/sinkane-mars-114110">Sinkane on the map</a>, but he’d already been racking up various performance credits with other bands by then: a brief period playing drums for experimental electronic outfit Caribou in 2008; his turn as a bassist and drummer for psych-poppers Of Montreal; and three years spent switching between guitar, drums and keyboard with left-field indie band Yeasayer.</p><p>Somewhere amid Gallab’s session work, he found time to focus on Sinkane material, too. He began the solo project in 2007, folding in a diverse set of genres along the way. Seven years down the line, Gallab pours influences from his Sudanese roots into his songwriting, shaken up with a heavy dose of funk keyboard and the odd sprawling rock guitar solo when the mood strikes.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/02/sinkane-review-oslo-london-razor-sharp-funk">Continue reading...</a>MusicCulturePop and rockYeasayerCaribouTue, 02 Dec 2014 17:46:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/02/sinkane-review-oslo-london-razor-sharp-funkPhotograph: Robin Little/Redferns via Getty ImagesTrademark hat … Sinkane. Photograph: Robin Little/Redferns via Getty ImagesPhotograph: Robin Little/Redferns via Getty ImagesTrademark hat … Sinkane. Photograph: Robin Little/Redferns via Getty ImagesTshepo Mokoena2014-12-02T17:46:30ZYeasayer: Fragrant World – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/19/yeasayer-fragrant-world-review-mute
(Mute)<p><a href="http://www.myspace.com/yeasayer" title="">Yeasayer</a>'s third album is an anxious record – both in its sentiments (Reagan's Skeleton cautions against the &quot;sentimental violence&quot; and &quot;Don't fear the red eyes/ Fear the satellites overhead&quot;) and in its sonic restlessness. Seemingly horrified of ever sounding dull, they've made their experimental pop more fidgety than ever – the two-bit bhangra clattering through &quot;No Bones&quot; is exemplary – but a fondness for the funkier reaches of 80s synth-pop permeates the record and helps things cohere. They're at their best when they do a little less, as on the surprisingly melancholy and lovely Henrietta.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/19/yeasayer-fragrant-world-review-mute">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerIndiePop and rockMusicCultureSat, 18 Aug 2012 23:05:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/19/yeasayer-fragrant-world-review-muteHermione Hoby2012-08-18T23:05:30ZYeasayer: Fragrant World – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/16/yeasayer-fragrant-world-review
(Mute)<p>Yeasayer's O.N.E. was a joy, propelled along its deceptively sad path by summery bounce and charisma. In the two years since, they've been tinkering with their oddball formula, venturing into more experimental areas. The first half of Fragrant World plods around self-indulgently, and No Bones veers all over the place, beginning with a chopped-up Bollywood melody and ending up as a sneering, Nine Inch Nails industrial stomp. But the halfway point marks a clear shift in quality, as&nbsp;if&nbsp;they finally rediscovered their pop sensibility. Demon Songs is louche and dreamy, and Damaged Goods pulsates with menace, but it's the intriguing Folk Hero Schtick that really stands out. It leaves you wondering who inspired them to write this deliciously spiteful song of &quot;fairweather friends&quot;, &quot;bullshit&quot; and &quot;swelled heads&quot;, with a final request to&nbsp;&quot;pack it in, please pack it in&quot;.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/16/yeasayer-fragrant-world-review">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerIndiePop and rockCultureMusicThu, 16 Aug 2012 20:15:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/16/yeasayer-fragrant-world-reviewRebecca Nicholson2012-08-16T20:15:00ZYeasayer: men versus mammonhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/26/yeasayer-men-versus-mammon
They're po-faced but funny, worried about death – and life. Yeasayer talk about music, self-promotion and compromising with commerce<p>What is the best way to make people want to buy your new album? You can put taster tracks on the internet before release. That is something <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/yeasayer" title="">Yeasayer</a> have done. You can book a couple of tiny shows in a minuscule venue to generate buzz. That is also something Yeasayer have done. Or you can say the album is a redundant artform. Which is what Chris Keating, singer and keyboard-player with the band, is doing right now, ahead of one of those couple of tiny shows at the <a href="http://www.thelexington.co.uk/event?id=1641" title="">Lexington</a> in London.</p><p>&quot;The two-hour film is dying,&quot; he expands. &quot;When you have The Wire or Mad Men, you'll sit down and watch 60 hours of a story: two hours seems so limiting. Likewise with the album.&quot; And tThen he rows back just a little bit. &quot;But if we were to release one song a month for the next two years – I don't think we'd be talking about it now.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/26/yeasayer-men-versus-mammon">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerMusicCulturePop and rockThu, 26 Jul 2012 19:30:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/26/yeasayer-men-versus-mammonTom Oldham/Rex FeaturesA curious bunch … (left to right) Ira Wolf Tuton, Anand Wilder and Chris Keating. Photograph: Tom Oldham/Rex FeaturesMichael Hann2012-07-26T19:30:03ZYeasayer; Deap Vally – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/15/yeasayer-lexington-deap-vally-review
Lexington; Old Blue Last, London<p>Having emerged from Brooklyn's fecund band swamp five years ago, <strong>Yeasayer</strong> have outlasted the initial spring tide of hype. Now they're one of America's most sinuous outfits, and their forthcoming third album, <em>Fragrant World</em>, is one of 2012's most anticipated records. Once, they touted a mantric, rattly drone-folk sound, a little like Animal Collective with a den full of African records. But their last album, 2010's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/05/yeasayer-odd-blood-cd-review" title=""><em>Odd Blood</em></a>, catapulted singing programmer Chris Keating, singing bassist Ira Wolf Tuton and singing guitarist-keyboard player Anand&nbsp;Wilder out of the blogosphere and into widespread acclaim on the heady thermal of electronics.</p><p>One of the continuing delights of this restless band is their inability to stay still long enough to be pinned and mounted. Behind the bobbing, grooving trio (augmented tonight by a touring drummer called Michael Cale Parks) there are Jamaican steel pans hanging from the walls, used as mirrors rather than instruments. Two of the band – Wilder and Parks – sport long hair in a top knot, like arty yoga types. Mostly, though, Yeasayer are a dance band. Mass shuffling kicks off with Fingers Never Bleed, a new song that pulsates and glides in equal measure. The band's huge, dazzling lighting rig is ready to upgrade to the larger venues Yeasayer will be playing on their autumn tour.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/15/yeasayer-lexington-deap-vally-review">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerPop and rockMusicCultureSat, 14 Jul 2012 23:06:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/15/yeasayer-lexington-deap-vally-reviewSarah Lee/Guardian'Never anything less than impressive': Yeasayer (l-r): Ira Wolf Tuton, Chris Keating and Anand Wilder.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianSarah Lee/Guardian'Never anything less than impressive': Yeasayer (l-r): Ira Wolf Tuton, Chris Keating and Anand Wilder.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianKitty Empire2012-07-14T23:06:34ZLatitude festival – in pictureshttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2012/jul/14/latitude-festival-in-pictures
About 35,000 people descend on the Latitude festival at Henham Park Estate near Southwold, Suffolk, to hear musicians and bands including Bon Iver, Metronomy, Lana Del Rey, Alt-J and Yeasayer <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2012/jul/14/latitude-festival-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Music festivalsLatitude festivalFestivalsPop and rockMusicUK newsCulturePoliçaBon IverLana Del ReyYeasayerMetronomyFatoumata DiawaraJanelle MonaeAlt-JSat, 14 Jul 2012 09:14:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2012/jul/14/latitude-festival-in-picturesAndy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty ImagesBen Ivascu, Channy Leaneagh and Drew Christopherson of the band Polica perform on stage during Latitude Festival 2012 Photograph: Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty ImagesGuardian Staff2012-07-14T09:14:00ZYeasayer – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/12/yeasayer-lexington-london-review
The Lexington, London<p>&quot;Ah, the Barfly,&quot; sighs Yeasayer guitarist Anand Wilder nostalgically. &quot;The Dublin Castle …&quot; With the band wildly beating drum-pads like a gaggle of electro-Krishnas and backlit by a theatre-sized lighting rig crammed on to the Lexington's minuscule stage, it's bizarre to find them reminiscing fondly about their 2007 tour of Camden toilet venues. But then this tiny fan show is a throwback to a time when Yeasayer emerged as the most blogged-about band on the planet and a pivotal force in New York's underground scene. They combined the Rapture's dancefloor funk with MGMT's psychedelia and the manic world music of Animal Collective. Later – with 2009's breakthrough hit <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6VatNuR_Uk" title="">Ambling Alp</a> – they also popularised the accessible 80s pop edge that's now become de rigueur in the basements of Williamsburg.</p><p>Those bright shards of Duran Duran, Red Box, the Thompson Twins and Wax, often sunk beneath oceans of Indian and Shinto synth trickery on their albums, leap to the fore when played live. While the synthetic mania and tribal drum frenzies of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOdtcUHLpyk" title="">2080</a> suggest shamans possessed by wolf spirits, the tune is essentially You Can Call Me Al crossed with Talking Heads; as swamped as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo4rbhR_vsk" title="">Henrietta</a> might be with what sounds like lovelorn yetis howling, at its core it's a Hall and Oates cameo in Miami Vice. The tracks from the forthcoming third album Fragrant World, which dominate the set, might sound like music melting, but they leave a luminescent puddle, oozing the warmth and humanity of the finest electro.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/12/yeasayer-lexington-london-review">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerPop and rockElectronic musicWorld musicMusicCultureThu, 12 Jul 2012 15:58:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/12/yeasayer-lexington-london-reviewMark Beaumont2012-07-12T15:58:43ZYeasayer's soundtrack to New Yorkhttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/may/06/yeasayer-playlist-for-newyork
As part of our new online city guides, we asked music experts to compile a playlist to their city. Here <strong>Chris Keating</strong> of Yeasayer cues up the tracks for New York City<br />• <strong><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/series/new-york-city-guide">As featured in our New York city guide</a></strong><p>While compiling our new online guides to the major cities of the world, we thought it would be a good idea to serve up a soundtrack of songs associated with that city - something to nod to as you sift through all the recommendations of places to stay, restaurants, cafes, bars, galleries ... to transport you there, aurally.</p><p>All the recommendations in the guides come from writers and bloggers based in the cities, so it made sense to ask a local musician or artist to compile the playlists.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/may/06/yeasayer-playlist-for-newyork">Continue reading...</a>New YorkCity breaksMusicYeasayerTravelThu, 05 May 2011 23:15:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/may/06/yeasayer-playlist-for-newyorkTom Oldham /Rex FeaturesYeasayer at Electric Lady Studios, New York Photograph: Tom Oldham /Rex FeaturesChris Keating2011-05-05T23:15:00ZClick to download: Gorillaz, Radiohead, Yeasayer and morehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/06/click-to-download-new-year-free-music
Christmas has been and gone, but there are still lots of new musical presents yet to be unwrapped, says Chris Salmon<p>If Christmas took its usual toll on your bank balance, then seek sonic solace in a new clutch of free musical offerings. Perhaps most notably, Damon Albarn gifted Gorillaz fans an entire new album, The Fall, on Christmas Day. The 15-track collection was recorded in 32 days on Albarn's iPad during the American leg of the band's world tour, using 20 different apps. Much of it sounds like the kind of electro noodling you'd expect from a preternaturally talented musician fiddling with a fancy new gadget on some very long tourbus journeys. But while those loop-driven instrumentals do hold your interest, it's&nbsp;the more fully-formed songs which really shine, especially the world-weary Amarillo and the snappy pop ditty Revolving Doors. Ahead of a planned CD release, you can stream the album for free by signing up to the band's mailing list at <a href="http://thefall.gorillaz.com" title=""><strong>thefall.gorillaz.com</strong></a>.</p><p>Meanwhile, Radiohead's dedicated army of fans have combined to make another live concert film, using footage filmed at the band's January 2009 Haiti fundraiser in LA (this follows a similar project for their Prague 2009 show, still available at <a href="http://radiohead-prague.nataly.fr" title=""><strong>radiohead-prague.nataly.fr</strong></a>). This band-approved, two-hour film provides a wonderful document of a genuinely thrilling, one-off show, soundtracked by a high quality audio recording. You can watch it at <a href="http://YouTube.com/formengr" title=""><strong>YouTube.com/formengr</strong></a>. Those who enjoy it are encouraged to apply Radiohead's &quot;pay what you want&quot; model to an Oxfam donation at <a href="http://oxfamamerica.org/radiohead" title=""><strong>oxfamamerica.org/radiohead</strong></a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/06/click-to-download-new-year-free-music">Continue reading...</a>DownloadsDigital music and audioMusicCultureTechnologyGorillazYeasayerRadioheadThu, 06 Jan 2011 23:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/06/click-to-download-new-year-free-musicPRGorillazPRGorillazChris Salmon2011-01-06T23:00:01ZExclusive video: watch Yeasayer's Madder Redhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2010/aug/13/yeasayer-madder-red
A girl and her loyal pet ... thingy star in Yeasayer's bizarre new video <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2010/aug/13/yeasayer-madder-red">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerMusicIndiePop and rockCultureFri, 13 Aug 2010 16:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2010/aug/13/yeasayer-madder-redPRA still from the video for Yeasayer's song Madder RedGuardian Staff2010-08-13T16:00:00ZYeasayer take on Pitchfork, NME and Rolling Stonehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jul/03/yeasayer-review-nme-pitchfork
The Brooklyn band's Odd Blood has seen them go from bloggers' buzz to album of 2010 contenders. So how do Chris Keating and co cope with being called 'neo-hippies with a penchant for synthesizers and string vests'<p>They say don't read your reviews, weigh them. And if Brooklyn's Yeasayer had loaded up the cuttings that their second album, Odd Blood, received, the scales would have been creaking. It's sitting pretty on review aggregator site <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/" title="Metacritic">Metacritic</a> with 78/100, a few points below recent efforts from <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/apr/24/lcd-soundsystem-this-is-happening" title="LCD Soundsystem">LCD Soundsystem</a> and the National, and way ahead of Scouting For Girls' meagre 44. Combining 80s pop with ravey synths and falsetto ballads, Odd Blood is undoubtedly one of the records of the year. You'd like it. In the spirit of fairness, we decided to let the band have their say, and review the reviewers who put them in this enviable position. First things first, though: do they read their reviews?</p><p>&quot;You see the few bad ones, or the really nasty ones, or the really misguided ones and start to cry,&quot; jokes Chris Keating, Yeasayer's main singer, when the Guardian sits them down at London's K West Hotel. &quot;Music journalists forget that we're people too,&quot; adds Anand Wilder, former high-school cello geek turned freak-out guitarist and keyboard player.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jul/03/yeasayer-review-nme-pitchfork">Continue reading...</a>MusicCultureYeasayerKasabianNMEFri, 02 Jul 2010 23:02:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jul/03/yeasayer-review-nme-pitchforkPRYeasayer's (left to right) Chris Keating, Anand Wilder and Ira Wolf Tuton consider a southwesterly assault on the mountain of good press for Odd Blood.PRYeasayer's (left to right) Chris Keating, Anand Wilder and Ira Wolf Tuton consider a southwesterly assault on the mountain of good press for Odd Blood.Will Dean2010-07-02T23:02:49ZYeasayer | live pop reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/may/30/yeasayer-live-review-koko-london
<strong>Koko, London</strong><br />Brooklyn's Yeasayer have souped up their hybrid sounds and taken their new LP on the road. Who's going to say nay to that?<p>They are one of the hippest references to drop this year, so it's just as well that Brooklyn's Yeasayer are aptly named. This core group of three indie darling multi-instrumentalists – now expanded to a fivesome live – cannot say no to any passing musical influence making eyes at them. Commercial R&amp;B? Subcontinental lilting? Prog rock? All of these notionally disparate elements find a home in Yeasayer's often dazzling, just as frequently confounding pop tonight.</p><p>Like the bumblebee, they should be too unwieldy to fly. But they do. &quot;Rome&quot;, from their latest album, <em>Odd Blood</em>, involves a jump-up rockabillyish rhythm, a synthesised steel pan melody, and acrylic farting noises masquerading as a bassline. And yet &quot;Rome&quot; conspires to sound like a minor new wave hit circa 1983. This is the sleight of hand this extraordinary but frustrating band can perform, leaving you scratching your head over how something can be so radically different from the sum of its parts. &quot;Rome is gonna be mine/ It's just a matter of time,&quot; yelps Yeasayer's gangling main singer Chris Keating, most unhelpfully.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/may/30/yeasayer-live-review-koko-london">Continue reading...</a>MusicCultureYeasayerVampire WeekendAnimal CollectiveMGMTGrizzly BearSat, 29 May 2010 23:05:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/may/30/yeasayer-live-review-koko-londonBarney Britton/RedfernsChris Keating of Yeasayer "playing the lead singer to the full, complete with tics and prancing". Photograph: Barney Britton/ RedfernsKitty Empire2010-05-29T23:05:45ZComing soon to a field near youhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/interactive/2010/may/22/top-10-new-festival-acts
Don't know who to see over the summer? Here's our mix of the top 10 bands to catch at festivals this year. Photographs by Frederike Helwig <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/interactive/2010/may/22/top-10-new-festival-acts">Continue reading...</a>MusicCultureDelphicLaura MarlingPop and rockYeasayerMarina and the DiamondsIndieFolk musicFestivalsFri, 21 May 2010 23:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/interactive/2010/may/22/top-10-new-festival-actsFrederike HelwigBeach House's Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand. Photograph: Frederike HelwigGuardian Staff2010-05-21T23:02:00ZSurvive the festivals: top tips from the hottest actshttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/may/22/hot-new-bands-fashion
Laura Marling, the Drums, Summer Camp, Beach House, Hurts and other must-see acts offer their advice in this music and fashion special <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/may/22/hot-new-bands-fashion">Continue reading...</a>FashionLife and styleWomenWomen's shoesMen's fashionWomen's coats and jacketsWomen's jewellerySkirtsMen's topsMen's trousersMusicCultureLaura MarlingYeasayerDelphicMarina and the DiamondsPop and rockIndieFestivalsGrimeFolk musicHurtsMen's coats and jacketsFri, 21 May 2010 23:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/may/22/hot-new-bands-fashionFrederike Helwig for the GuardianFestival hot bands trail Photograph: Frederike Helwig for the GuardianGuardian Staff2010-05-21T23:02:00ZLeading the fieldhttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/may/22/festivals-hot-new-acts
Meet the brightest new acts to catch at this summer's festivals<p><strong>The critics say</strong> &quot;Truly divine.&quot; <em>Time&nbsp;Out</em><br /><strong>Influences?</strong> Jonathan Pierce: &quot;We only listen to the bands and songs that changed our lives: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYp2LGKOF_M" title="">the Smiths</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1sdVQDX8pU" title="">Orange Juice</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvkK0mO7fXg" title="">My Bloody Valentine</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wake_%28band%29" title="">the Wake</a>…&quot;<br />Jacob Graham: &quot;I exclusively listen to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngpQZB08zJo" title="">the Field Mice</a>.&quot;<br /><strong>Musical highlight? </strong>JG: &quot;My Maudlin Career, the new <a href="http://www.camera-obscura.net/" title="">Camera Obscura</a> album, is amazing. Their single, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3CkfvYMCWM" title="">French Navy</a>, came on at a party and I danced so hard, I broke my foot.&quot;<br /><strong>Your look?</strong> JG: &quot; A bunch of nerds.&quot;<br /><strong>Festival tip?</strong> Connor Hanwick: &quot;Get&nbsp;a hotel room.&quot;<br /><strong>See them at</strong> <a href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/" title="">Glastonbury</a>; <a href="http://2010.oxegen.ie/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=category&amp;layout=blog&amp;id=1&amp;Itemid=18" title="">Oxegen</a>; <a href="http://www.tinthepark.com/content/" title="">T&nbsp;In The Park</a>; <a href="http://www.leedsfestival.com/home/" title="">Leeds</a> and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.readingfestival.com/home/" title="">Reading</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/may/22/festivals-hot-new-acts">Continue reading...</a>FestivalsCultural tripsLaura MarlingMarina and the DiamondsDelphicLife and styleMusicPop and rockFolk musicIndieYeasayerFri, 21 May 2010 23:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/may/22/festivals-hot-new-actsFrederike Helwig for the Guardian. Styling: Aradian CrockettLaura wears breton top, £35, by <a href="http://www.cosstores.com/gb/site/home__start.nhtml">Cos</a>. Ring, £125, bangle, £59, and necklace £115, all from <a href="http://www.benna.co.uk">benna.co.uk</a>. Jeans and shoes, Laura's own. Photograph: Frederike Helwig for the Guardian. Styling: Aradian CrockettGuardian Staff2010-05-21T23:02:00ZYeasayer: Pop reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/02/yeasayer-review
Brighton Digital<p>Many gigs come with a message: don't vote for them; we're back; give this worthy cause some money. Even so, there's something deeply original about the message of tonight's gig by Brooklyn trio Yeasayer, which appears to be: you can't underestimate the transformative power of going to New Zealand and taking a vast amount of LSD. That, according to the LA Times, spurred the dramatic shift between the band's 2007 debut album All Hours Cymbals and its recent follow-up Odd Blood.</p><p>Three years ago, Yeasayer were the apotheosis of the worthy-but-joyless US art-rock experience: vocalist doing the tortured yelp; intriguing music sampled in a way that suggested a terribly serious experiment rather than a gleeful ransacking of an album collection; glowing review from website Pitchfork with phrases like &quot;resists stepping into essentialist ethnocentric traps&quot;.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/02/yeasayer-review">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerPop and rockMusicCultureTue, 02 Mar 2010 21:35:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/02/yeasayer-reviewNickie Divine / Retna Pictures/NDEBreezily confident ... Yeasayer's Chris Keating. Photograph: Nickie Divine / Retna Pictures/NDENickie Divine / Retna Pictures/NDEBreezily confident ... Yeasayer's Chris Keating. Photograph: Nickie Divine / Retna Pictures/NDEAlexis Petridis2010-03-02T21:35:00ZWhy Yeasayer are too uncool for schoolhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/25/yeasayer-odd-blood
While hip bands in Brooklyn tried to be the next Strokes, Yeasayer set about being as untrendy as possible. The plan backfired: now they are the hottest gig going.<p>Two years ago I was in San Francisco reporting on the soon-to-be-supernova MGMT. At their gig in the city I was blown away by the support band. Yeasayer wore unfashionable clothes and had hair tumbling to their waists – they looked as if they'd been blasted in from the San Francisco of 40 years before. But their melodies were stunning, an uncategorisable ambient haze of psychedelia, world music and krautrock. I remember telling MGMT's Ben Goldwasser – as diplomatically as I could under the circumstances – that the opening act were one of the best new bands I'd ever seen.</p><p>&quot;Er, they are really good,&quot; he replied, with a tiny frown, his own enthusiasm perhaps tempered by having to follow them every night.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/25/yeasayer-odd-blood">Continue reading...</a>YeasayerPop and rockMusicCultureThu, 25 Feb 2010 22:30:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/25/yeasayer-odd-bloodGuy Aroch/PRYeasayer … from left to right, Chris Keating,
Ira Wolf Tuton and Anand wilder
Photograph: Guy ArochGuy Aroch/PRYeasayer … from left to right, Chris Keating,
Ira Wolf Tuton and Anand wilder
Photograph: Guy ArochDave Simpson2010-02-25T22:30:02ZYeasayer: Odd Blood | CD reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/07/yeasayer-odd-blood-review
<p>After 2009's Animal Collective/Grizzly Bear double whammy, prepare for another bunch of Brooklyn-based avant-garders to coast into the mainstream. For where Yeasayer's underrated 2007 debut was all slippery psychedelic jams, here they channel their creative energies in a poppier, electronic direction. The off-kilter percussive clatter of yore comes allied to pulsing tunes, and Tears for Fears-esque synth-soul effortlessly coalesces with calypso, techno and funk.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/07/yeasayer-odd-blood-review">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureYeasayerSun, 07 Feb 2010 00:05:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/07/yeasayer-odd-blood-reviewHugh Montgomery2010-02-07T00:05:03ZYeasayer join music's Fight Clubhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/06/yeasayer-odd-blood-boxing
Boxing's long been a big-screen staple. But Ambling Alp by the Brooklyn hipsters puts them alongside Dylan, Nas and the Gallaghers in celebrating the sweet science<p>&quot;His units were removed one by one, malfunctions were showing ...&quot; In The Fight – his blow-by-blow account of 1974's rumble in the jungle – Norman Mailer compares George Foreman's state to the fading moments of HAL towards the end of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.</p><p>The two-hit combo of cinema and boxing is one of Hollywood's heavyweight sports movie tropes; one that – from Rocky and Raging Bull to Million Dollar Baby – has won as many rounds with audiences as awards panels. But even more than the monochrome and Mascagni of Scorsese, boxing's mixture of glory and tragedy have inspired pounding beats outside the ring and inside the hi-fi.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/06/yeasayer-odd-blood-boxing">Continue reading...</a>MusicCultureBoxingPop and rockYeasayerSat, 06 Feb 2010 00:05:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/06/yeasayer-odd-blood-boxingPRBoxing clever: Yeasayer.PRBoxing clever... Yeasayer.Will Dean2010-02-06T00:05:05ZYeasayer: Odd Blood | CD reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/05/yeasayer-odd-blood-cd-review
(Mute)<p>Not so much a step-up, but a masterclass in modern, multicultural, weirdo pop music, Yeasayer's second album is both odd and bloody marvellous. Taking in references from Middle Eastern pop (Madder Red), to Animal Collective-type balladry (I Remember) to Balearic house (the intro to the wonderful Love Me Girl), it's genuinely eclectic. The record thrives, too, on the combination of straightforward lyrics – &quot;stick up for yourself, son,&quot; the narrator tells the boxer Joe Louis in Ambling Alp – and the petridish of musical influences within. Only the opening number The Children lacks the verve of the rest of the album, but it still works as an entree&shy;. Like MIA and the other global pop magpies of the last few years, Odd Blood comparts styles and sounds of the world into an easy duty-free package, and, in doing so, absolutely throbs with vigour.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/05/yeasayer-odd-blood-cd-review">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureYeasayerFri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/05/yeasayer-odd-blood-cd-reviewWill Dean2010-02-05T00:00:03Z